10 things you need to know today: September 1, 2021

Biden calls Afghanistan exit a success, Texas' 6-week abortion ban takes effect, and more

Biden discusses Afghanistan
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

1. Biden defends Afghanistan withdrawal as a success

As the Taliban celebrated the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Biden on Tuesday called the airlift of more than 120,000 Afghans, Americans, and other allies out of the country an "extraordinary success." He also defended his decision to stick to the deadline for withdrawing all U.S. troops to end the longest war in U.S. history. "I was not going to extend this forever war," Biden said in an address from the White House State Dining Room. "And I was not going to extend a forever exit." Biden said it was inevitable that it would be difficult to leave Afghanistan after 20 years. The Biden administration has faced harsh criticism for the chaotic evacuation following the Taliban's takeover of the country, and Congress is expected to hold hearings on what went wrong.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.